Bicycle Picnic in the City

On Monday (hooray for holiday weekends) I rode a few miles, set up my blanket under a big tree by the lake, laid out my spread of fizzy drink and fresh berries, and read a novel for a couple of hours. Although the local news warned that because of the 90 degree temps everyone should stay in the air conditioning (sigh) the day was beautiful in the shade with the legendary Chicago wind keeping things cool.

The gorgeous location, so private and quiet, was amazing for a city as big as Chicago. The city has so many lovely spots for those who put forth the small effort to find them.

This is going down as an event for the Summer Games, go on a picnic by bicycle. Bicycle picnic was the first event I came up with when Trisha and I started planning the Games. I’m excited that it’s finally come around and I hope others take the opportunity to have a bicycle picnic of their own :)

I know I’ve said it before but I love your photography :D picnics by bike are brilliant! I remember celebrating the first real warm rays of sunshine in May with a lovely picnic me with Pashley and PB with his Brompton in our local Country Park :D beautiful!! x

More photography love from me as well! Lovely picnic and such beautiful documentation of it.

I also find it a bit exaggerated how much we rely on air conditioning here in the US. Most places in Europe do without and it’s not like it doesn’t get hot in France or Spain. I grew up without it and while I certainly love having it for really hot days or nights, I don’t think I need to bunker down in air conditioned spaces on days that get above a certain degree. As you mentioned, just being smart about it and staying in the shade makes a big difference. So does a hat, sunscreen, and drinking lots of water. What a shame to miss out on summer when just a few precautions can make it more than enjoyable.

Oh man, I was all ready to do my picnic post on Sunday. I even had a picnic basket packed (it’s a little wicker suitcase and all) the night before. Then on Sunday it rained all day and the birthday picnic-party I was going to ride to ended up being an apartment party instead.

Since when did 90* become hot? Warm, yes, too hot to be outside? Most likely not. We don’t start worrying about he weather at work until the heat index exceeds 100 then we just take a few more breaks and drink more water. We don’t take any real precautions until it hits 105, then we start shutting things down and looking for a cooler time of day to work.

Amazing the small quiet corners that can be found in even the largest cities in the US.

There is some degree of relativity when it comes to weather management in that people from the northern plains aren’t going to be able to cope with heat and/or humidity as well as people from the south, just like the converse is true in the winter. But yeah, local news having a freak-out over 90 degree weather is a little ridiculous. But that is what local news does. It seems they gave up on real local news years ago and focus entirely on making much ado over practically nothing. I’m guessing this was probably broadcast just before the segment where they sent in a crack investigative reporter to check the cleanliness of gas station bathrooms or to probe whether grocery stores were overcharging by 15 cents by mistake.

Ah, two of my favorite things – a book and good food! I want to go on a picnic, and what better way than by bike? I wish I had the lake, but I suppose a small pond may have to do – haha!

Well, on the bright side, if they were warning people to stay in due to being 90 degrees, maybe you had more space to yourself at the lake :) If homes and offices weren’t so over-cooled, then maybe 90 wouldn’t seem so bad – honestly, why do people think that a “comfortable” temperature is often under 70 degrees – that’s cold in our house!

About this blog

As two women who practice city cycling with style and think you can too, we started this blog to share our stories, learn more about cycling and encourage others to rediscover the fun of riding a bike. All opinions and reviews are our own, and we are not paid to provide them. Check the "About us" page for more details.